“The leader must aim high, see big, judge widely, thus setting himself apart form the ordinary people who debate in narrow confines.”

In the tumult of great events, solitude was what I hoped for. Now it is what I love. How is it possible to be contented with anything else when one has come face to face with history?

Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. He imposes his own stamp of action, takes responsibility for it, makes it his own.

It’s better to have a bad plan then no plan at all.

The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.

It’s impossible in normal times to rally a nation that has 265 kinds of cheese.

Victory often goes to the army that makes the least mistakes, not the most brilliant plans.

He who laughs last didn’t get the joke.

A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless.

The true statesman is the one who is willing to take risks.

Whereas ordinary officers must be content with behaving correctly in front of their men, the great leaders have always carefully stage-managed their effects.

No, I’m not talking about the Russians; I mean the Germans. In spite of everything, to have pushed so far!

Deliberation is a function of the many; action is the function of one.

I wouldn’t mind dying for France, but not for Air France.

The future does not belong to men.

I am not bad, thank you. But don’t worry, one of these days I shall certainly die.

France cannot be France without greatness.

Today we are always as ready to judge as we are to fornicate.

As rain falls equally on the just and the unjust, do not burden your heart with judgements but rain your kindness equally on all.

Judge not before you judge yourself. Judge not if you’re not ready for judgment.

Love is the absence of judgment.

The quality of a leader cannot be judged by the answers he gives, but by the questions he asks.

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West – know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.

You have to use your judgment. In cases like that, we say, ‘let’s be simple minded. We know this is a feature that’s good for customers. Let’s do it.

Common Sense is that which judges the things given to it by other senses.